From the fields of France to the tables in Barcelona, we have been on some amazing journeys with Dom Pérignon. The latest adventure has us standing over the Californian desert horizon of Joshua Tree, drawing parallels between a 100 million year old natural park with its rich history of change and Dom Pérignon’s 1998 vintage which is now, according to Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy, entering its Second Pléntitude on its own journey through time and change.

The Second Pléntitude, or P2 as they call it, happens around year fifteen in the champagne aging process. According to Geoffroy, champagne has three peak stages: The first at around seven years, the second at fifteen and the final stage around thirty. For the sake of comparison, a typical champagne is aged around three years. When you contrast the aging of Joshua Tree and how it has had many stages created and affected by nature you see how the stages of champagne are a small mirror to a vast landscape, both displaying their beautiful triumphs as a result of mother nature.

I love champagne, of course, it is greatly heightened by the master craft and artisanship of a wine like Dom, but I don’t drink it because of the name on the label. I love champagne because I’ve never had a bad time with it. It evokes memories of celebration, joy, friendship, laughter, perfect sunsets and even perfect sunrises. When we toast with champagne it is that sparkle in our eyes that effortlessly compliments the golden movements of the silent symphony inside that golden glass leaving your memories to float up into the night-sky and dance among the stars.

There are two things I love dearly: Champagne & Texas. So it was a joy when Veuve Clicquot asked me to do an Instagram takeover guide to Dallas this past weekend! As if going back home could get any sweeter…

Below are the images in the series they edited down to their 5 favorites but here are a few of my other must see, eat, play places!:

Shopping

Forty Five Ten– A new luxury boutique offering designer clothes and home decor in a historic building surrounded with Texas live oaks with its own cafe.

Neiman Marcus– The historic flagship luxury retailer store opened originally in downtown Dallas in 1907 and still stands to this day with the chic Zodiac restaurant.

Grange Hall– A new and lavish shop that boasts and exquisite collection of home décor, jewelry, handbags, apothecary and other opulent oddities with a floral shop and gorgeous restaurant.

Cocktails

Five Sixty Reunion Tower– See in the above image. This chic and glamorous restaurant and bar by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck sits high atop Dallas in the Reunion Tower, a famous spherical piece of architecture iconic to the Dallas skyline.

Midnight Rambler– An underground craft cocktail salon located in the hip Joule Hotel in the heart of downtown Dallas.

Bowen House– Set in a historic house in Dallas’s cosmopolitan Uptown neighborhood, this charming and cozy watering hole serves craft cocktails and Texas bites.

Activities

Nasher Sculpture Center– Located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District, the Nasher is one of my favorite art museums to take in modern and contemporary sculptures, especially in their curated gardens.

Dallas Farmer Market- A Texas-sized sprawling daily market with a focus on seasonal produce, local farms, speciality foods, honey and beds of flowers all for purchase.

The Rustic– Kick up your boots and listen to live Texas music on the patio under string lights at The Rustic in the heart of Dallas, featuring a bar stocked full of Texas made beers and liquors and farm to table eats.

EAT

Bolsa– A cool Bishop Arts District spot in a historic building known as Settles Garage with local seasonal food and amazing flatbreads.

Pecan Lodge– Texas BBQ joint located in Deep Ellum serves up classic comfort with a variety of smoked meats, sides and desserts served on no-frills metal trays, a true southern experience.

El Come Taco– Don’t let the location in a strip mall fool you- this small, loval and hip counter-service taqueria offers the best Mexican fare famous for their street tacos and breakfast tortas.

Above~ Have champagne, will travel. The perfect backpack for both, by Buscemi

Below~ Attending Veuve Clicquot’s kick-off dinner at the Hotel Zaza starting a nationwide journey for the Champagne house in a silk satin dress by Kaelen & Schutz heels.

It can only be described as “like a dream” to dine with the winemakers of Dom Pérignon in a glowing mansion in Épernay on the Moët & Chandon estate. If I let my mind wander from the conversation I could sit back and imagine that it must have not been unlike this to dine in a miniature version of Versailles. But if anything could outshine the grandeur of the room it was the incredible chocolate soufflé created by Chef de Cuisine Pascal Tingaud for us that evening as a perfect finish to a meal paired with Dom Pérignon Rosé vintages. It was served in a large soufflé dish and bought around to each person family style at the table… sometimes twice. I asked the chef if he wouldn’t mind sharing this heavenly dessert recipe for my own dinner parties at home in New York.

See below for the recipe of the night’s star dish by Chef de Cuisine Pascal Tingaud

We first began our journey to “Decode Dom Pérignon” in Barcelona, questioning the idea of champagne and trying to understand it beyond the simple pleasures of drinking. The second part of our discovery took us to the birthplace of champagne, a sacred abbey high atop a hill in Hautvillers where a monk named Dom Pérignon lived in from 1668 until his death in 1715. It was here Dom Pérignon gave birth to champagne as we know it.

As we walked the grounds of the cloisters it was easier to understand the philosophy of today’s champagne makers of Dom Pérignon. They come here, to this tranquil place that is the spirit and soul of Dom, to reflect on the past and think about the future. It was one of those perfect days. Crisp, damp and cool in the morning opening like a pathway to a glorious sun filled afternoon. I stood on the grounds of the abbey where the first champagne was created and closed my eyes to the smell of old stone, chalk, and earth while the wind whipped the trees around me making a sparkling symphony of the leaves while the golden sunlight danced between the shadows. If a place could sparkle like a glass of champagne, this was the place and in the spirit of inspiration, like with Dom Pérignon, could leave your thoughts amongst the stars.

Following the benedictine rule set by the Sun King Louis IX which transformed France into a country of luxury and craftsmanship, he cared for the vineyards in great detail and through years of contemplation and study transformed the wine making process in three important ways. First, in place of manually stomping grapes with your feet he used a large machine to separate the juice of the grapes from the skin. Second was the blend. He had the idea to blend a variety of grapes from the Champagne villages. Lastly, which lead to the revaluation of champagne, he started the aging process in bottles as opposed to wooden casks which were used in the 17th century. It was through this process he discovered the creation of bubbles in the 2nd fermentation.

The production of Dom Pérignon is far beyond technical. Having now spent many lunches and dinners with the Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy and Vincent Chaperon they speak of the wine making process in such a romantic and idyllic way it is a constant reminder that we are speaking about something which comes from the earth. It is organic, and most of all, it is a gift from nature.

One of the most poingoint points by Geoffry shared over our tasting of 11 Dom Pérignon vintages was in the way champagne lingers which leads to memory. Memory is a constant in my own work. I take photographs like memories, to see the way it felt, to remember the beautiful moments. Each time I am so fortunate to find myself with a glass of Dom Pérignon I take in the smell which brings back memories of celebration, successes, all those magical nights faded with laughter and distant sparkling lights. Of course, as a winemaker, memory to him refers to the harvest, the conditions of the year that make the DNA of the vintage. The memory of characteristics from vintage to vintage. For example, the 2002 being elegant, refined, creamy, perfectly balanced while the 2003 is robust, bright, exciting, crisp. The memory of tradition and the relationship to time to project themselves forward into the future. It’s amazing to me that you can find so much life lived in one sip of champagne.

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Visual storytellers Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg unfold tales of fashion, travel, truth and beauty. Through photographs, videos, and their own invention, Cinemagraphs, they create new worlds — from their New York City workspace, Ann Street Studio. May you find something here to inspire you.